Due to several unfortunate injuries to key Jacksonville Jaguars players, the Jaguars’ 2011 season has been one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Though the team has plenty to work on, the 2012 season will hopefully be more exciting for Jacksonville and the team should be much better next season if the injured players are able to recover from their injuries and stay healthy.

Here are five notable predictions of the Jaguars for the 2012 NFL season:

Blaine Gabbert will be selected to his first Pro Bowl

Blaine Gabbert, who was selected with the tenth pick by the Jaguars in the 2011 NFL Draft, has been having a solid season for a rookie. In 14 games Gabbert has a total of 11 touchdowns and 2,122 passing yards. His quarterback rating this season is 64.3. Though this prediction may be heavy and perhaps unrealistic, Gabbert had a great college career and will one day become a consistent Pro Bowl quarterback, and next year could be Gabbert’s starting point.

Jacksonville Jaguars will win eight or more games in 2012

Though the Jaguars did not make the playoffs last year, the team was able to win eight games, while losing eight. If Jacksonville can stay healthy and draft a key player in the 2012 NFL Draft, the team may have a good chance at winning eight or more games in 2012.

Josh Scobee will remain as the starting kicker

Along with the prediction that Jones-Drew will be selected to another Pro Bowl in 2012, this prediction is arguably the most likely to happen on my list. Scobee, who was selected by the Jaguars in the 2004 NFL Draft, has never played for another NFL team. He will most likely remain on the team as he is a talented kicker.

Maurice Jones-Drew will be selected to another Pro Bowl

Maurice Jones-Drew has been selected to three Pro Bowls so far in his career: in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Though the starting running back will be 27-years-old by the beginning of the 2012 NFL Season, he has a very good chance at making his fourth Pro Bowl.

Mel Tucker will not be the head coach next season

Mel Tucker, who is currently serving as the interim coach for the Jaguars, may be a good defensive coordinator, but he has not been as successful as the Jacksonville head coach. In four games this season, he is 1-3. Expect that Tucker will be replaced by a veteran coach, who can help the Jaguars transform into a better team for the 2012 NFL season.

Sources:

Mark Long, “Gabbert unfazed by criticism, offensive problems,” Yahoo! Sports.

Mark Long, “Jaguars have plenty of motivation for finale,” Yahoo! Sports.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

A spectacular comeback helped put the Atlanta Falcons in position for their third playoff berth in four years.

With coach Mike Smith expected to be on the sideline after a medical scare, the Falcons will try to hold on to that spot Thursday night against a visiting Jacksonville Jaguars team that showed it’s not just content to play out the string.

It appeared that Atlanta’s playoff hopes might take a hit this past Sunday when it trailed 23-7 at halftime in Carolina. The Falcons, though, responded with 24 unanswered points in a 31-23 victory and received additional help later in the day with Chicago’s stunning overtime loss in Denver.

Matt Ryan had three of his career high-tying four touchdown passes over the final 24 minutes against the Panthers, including two to Julio Jones in the fourth quarter.

“We approached it as the first of four legs,” Ryan said of the team’s remaining games. “We’ve knocked the first leg out and now we’ve got to move on and keep going.”

You can watch this game live on Sportsnet starting at 8pm ET.

Atlanta (8-5) enters this week tied with Detroit for the NFC’s final playoff berths, and leading Chicago, New York Giants and Dallas by one game. The Falcons have a trip to NFC South leader New Orleans remaining on their schedule, which could make winning this week’s game crucial to their postseason hopes.

Judging by their most recent performance, the Jaguars (4-9) might not make it easy for Atlanta. Jacksonville is coming off its highest-scoring game in nearly four years, a 41-14 rout of Tampa Bay on Sunday that snapped a three-game skid.

Maurice Jones-Drew scored a career-high four times while helping interim coach Mel Tucker earn his first win and set a franchise record with his 71st career touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Rookie Blaine Gabbert threw two of those TDs to the running back while topping 200 yards for the third time this season.

“This is what we expected to have all year,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “It didn’t work like that, but hopefully it will be good momentum for us.”

While the Jaguars will seek to win consecutive games for the first time this season, the Falcons will try to claim their seventh victory in nine contests and will likely have Smith to help them in that attempt.

The 52-year-old Atlanta coach checked into a Charlotte hospital after he reportedly became ill and walked off the team plane following Sunday’s win. The Falcons released a statement that Smith was examined for a “non-emergency matter” but did not offer further details.

He returned to Atlanta early Monday morning on owner Arthur Blank’s private jet and was back at practice that night.

“I’m really embarrassed to have to even be talking about it,” Smith said. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’d prefer to talk about the way our guys played in the second half and we’ve got a short week and we’ve got to get ready for Jacksonville.”

Smith had the Falcons ready to play on three days rest last season when they beat Baltimore 26-21 during an eight-game win streak. However, they weren’t ready the last time they faced the Jaguars, losing 13-7 during a 4-12 campaign in 2007.

Smith was hired after that season and led the team to an 11-5 record in his first year.

Atlanta finished last season with the NFC’s best record (13-3) but needs to win out and have New Orleans lose its remaining games to repeat as division champs.

They’ll try to take a step toward fulfilling at least one part of that scenario by earning their second win in five games against Jacksonville. Atlanta claimed that victory during the previous matchup at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 28, 2003.

Ryan, who has topped 300 yards in three of the last five games, will try to lead his team to another win by setting a single-season mark. He needs 232 yards to top last year’s 3,705.

Top receiver Roddy White is 35 yards shy of his fifth straight 1,000-yard season and had four catches for 81 yards against the Jaguars in 2007.

Jones-Drew needs 170 yards to top his career high of 1,391 set in 2009.

The top fantasy football defense from Week 14 was a bit of a surprise, as the Jacksonville Jaguars really put on a show. For the rare owners that decided to start the Jaguars defense on Sunday, it made them look like geniuses. Not only did the team turn in the best fantasy football performance for a defense this week, but it was also one of the best of the 2011 season.

Below is a breakdown of the top 5 fantasy football defenses from Week 14.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville went up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what looked like an evenly matched game on paper. The defense came up huge though, posting 30 fantasy football points for the week. The Jaguars had 3 sacks, 3 interceptions, 4 fumble recoveries and 2 defensive touchdowns on the day. It was an amazing day all-around for the defense and fans were left wondering why it couldn’t have been that good all year.

Detroit Lions

The Lions scored 27 fantasy points on defense against the Minnesota Vikings and normally that would have been the best mark of the week. The team had 4 sacks, 3 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries and 2 defensive touchdowns. It’s a good thing that they came up with big plays though, because the 28 points that the defense also allowed almost cost the Lions the game.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles looked a lot better against the Miami Dolphins than they did against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13. The defense posted an amazing 9 sacks on the day, setting the new standard for how to stop Miami. The Eagles also had a safety, an interception and 2 fumble recoveries in the game to post 21 total fantasy points.

San Diego Chargers

The Chargers defense held the Buffalo Bills to just 4 points on Sunday, netting fantasy football owners a nice week of 20 points in the process. The Chargers had a sack, 3 interceptions and a defensive touchdown as well, giving the team a great chance to put up big numbers on offense.

Green Bay Packers

The Packers remained undefeated with a win over the Oakland Raiders, spurred on by another good defensive performance. The Packers had a sack, 4 interceptions, a fumble recovery and a defensive touchdown in the win. That was all done while holding the Raiders to just 14 points in the game.

More From YCN :

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Week 13 Top Defenses

2011 Best Fantasy Defenses

5 Best Fantasy Players of 2011

Sources:

Week 14 NFL Scores

Defensive Team Leaders

Yahoo! Fantasy Football

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to stop their current six-game losing streak today on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars, they know what they must do defensively: Contain Maurice Jones-Drew.

At 5-foot-7, Jones-Drew might not be tall, but there aren’t too many running backs as large as he is in the game today.

Despite being on a Jacksonville team that struggles offensively and is 3-9 overall, Jones-Drew currently leads the NFL in rushing with 1,137 yards.

Considering the Bucs have struggled stopping the run this year (29th overall allowing 141.7 yards per game), today’s game will be an interesting matchup.

“That guy is a beast,” Tampa Bay defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake said. “He runs physical. He’s a guy you would want on your team. You can tell he runs with passion. He runs behind his pads. He’s always looking to run someone over. He’s looking to hurt you when he runs the football. They throw the ball to him on check downs. That guy, if we can stop him, we will feel pretty good on defense.”

In addition to running the ball, Jones-Drew is third on the team with 29 catches.

He has accounted for 46.9 percent of the Jaguars’ offense. Teams know he’s going to get the ball and can’t stop him.

“They load the box, they don’t check down to a pass, and he’s still drilling people,” Lake said. “We’ve got to stop him.”

Although the teams play nearly every preseason, they haven’t met often in the regular season. The Jaguars lead the regular-season meetings 3-1.

The Jags have lost three straight and four of their past five. This will be their second game under interim coach Mel Tucker, who took over last week after the club fired Jack Del Rio.

Jacksonville also is trying to shake off any distractions with a new coach and owner Wayne Weaver selling the team.

“I think we’re using football as part of our therapy,” Jones-Drew said. “We’re not trying to focus on everything that has been going on the last couple of weeks or the last week. We just want to get back out there and keep playing the best brand of football that we can.”

The Bucs (4-8) want to do the same and hope the return of Josh Freeman will help. Freeman is expected to start after missing last week’s game with a shoulder injury.

Cornerback Aqib Talib will miss today’s game with a hamstring injury.

By Mark Long, Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — All those defensive injuries finally caught up with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars played without five defensive starters and several key backups Monday night against San Diego, and it showed in a 38-14 loss. The Jaguars (3-9) were torched in the secondary, gouged on the ground and essentially out of the game by halftime.

It could get worse, too.

Jacksonville placed defensive end John Chick on injured reserve Tuesday, the team’s 21st player deemed out for the season. Given injuries to fellow defensive ends Aaron Kampman (hamstring) and Matt Roth (concussion), it was no surprise the Jaguars failed to put much pressure on Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers.

Rivers completed 22 of 28 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns. He picked apart Jacksonville’s secondary, which played without its top three cornerbacks.

“It was a tough night,” linebacker Russell Allen said. “We didn’t start out fast on defense. We let them score right away and that kind of set the tone. … We just have to trust in the guys we’ve got and we just have to execute better.”

Rivers connected on long touchdowns throws to Vincent Brown, Vincent Jackson and Malcom Floyd. The first two came on consecutive possessions in the final two minutes of the first half and put San Diego ahead 24-14. The third one came on the opening drive of the third quarter and left the offensively challenged Jaguars in an uncomfortable chase mode.

“It doesn’t leave a good taste in your mouth going in at halftime, then they come out with the ball and make a couple of plays,” defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “It’s not how we want to play on defense. … We just didn’t show up.”

The Jaguars allowed 433 yards, their second-most this season, and fell from fourth to fifth in total defense. The unit could slide even further over the final four games considering the mounting injuries.

Although Kampman and Roth could return for the final four games, cornerbacks Rashean Mathis, Derek Cox and Will Middleton, and linebacker Clint Session are out for the season. Safety Dwight Lowery left the game with a shoulder injury, but interim coach Mel Tucker said he should return against Tampa Bay.

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew and Jacksonville’s defense had been the lone bright spots in an otherwise dismal season for the Jaguars. Team owner Wayne Weaver fired longtime coach Jack Del Rio last week and announced he has agreed to sell the team.

Because Tucker had done such a good job in his first season in control of the defense, Weaver named him the interim coach and said the final five games would serve as an audition for the head job.

His debut was a dud.

The Jaguars took a 14-10 lead with back-to-back touchdown drives in the second quarter. But it was all Rivers from there. He picked on cornerbacks Ashton Youboty and rookie Kevin Rutland. Youboty was signed off the street three weeks ago, and Rutland played mostly on special teams this season before making his first career start.

Tucker eventually benched Youboty and replaced him with Morgan Trent, who was signed four days earlier.

“You won’t hear any excuses or explanations from me and I doubt you will hear it from any players in the locker room,” Tucker said. “Our philosophy is next man up and that’s how we operate. Regardless of the circumstances, the guys that are on our roster available to play we feel like they can get the job done now.

“Do we need to get better in those areas or do we need gain more experience from our mistakes? Absolutely. But there are no excuses here. We won’t allow ourselves to go down that road.”